Gotham: The Rise Of James Gordon

Another week, another comic book adaption. Except that Gotham isn't really, instead of documenting the exploits of the caped crusader that we've all grown to love through Nolans Dark Knight trilogy (and the Burton films for the people that are over the ages of 20) Gotham tells the story of a young James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as he attempts to clean up the city, starting with the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Most of you will recognise McKenzie as Ryan Atwood of The OC fame but he managed to flex his acting muscles a fair bit on Southland and it's great that he gets to take centre stage on a show that people will actually watch. While watching the show I didn't get distracted by Ryan Atwood playing with guns, I was enthralled by the righteous James Gordon trying to clean up the city. Within five minutes of Gotham McKenzie made me forget his unfortunate beginnings (come on, The OC wasn't even that good) and I was enamoured by James Gordon, I fell in love with him within minutes and I eagerly await what comes next for him.

I'm pretty sure that this is the only Batman adaptation that side-lines Batman but the show doesn't feel worse off for it, it actually feels like a more fresh take on the series. We have seen the character of Batman being done to death and I'd say that supporting players and villains within the series are quite intriguing so it's quite surprising that it's taken till now to have a show that explores them. I mentioned before that the show follows the future Commissioner Gordon but in the pilot we are also introduced to young incarnations of Oswald Cobblepott/Penguin, Edward Nygma/The Riddler and Selina Kyle/Catwoman. The introduction of these characters so early on is a tell tale sign that the show won't go exactly the way of the comic books as the lore has already been broken by Selina Kyle witnessing the murders of Martha and Thomas Wayne. I'm sure that DC fan boys will be up in arms about this but to me it shows that the show runners have balls, and the characters are interesting so it'll be nice to see what they do with them.

Bruce Wayne may not be the focal point in this incarnation of the franchise but it's likely that he will feature prominently. David Mazouz has been cast in the role, and I've been following him since first seeing him in the Touch (which I still believe deserves more love than it got), he is clearly a tremendous young actor and did brilliantly in the pilot for Gotham. He genuinely made me feel for him after he witnessed the loss of his parents, and usually child actors make me want to punch them. We are also introduced to Alfred played by Sean Pertwee even though he's completely different to his predecessors I can tell we're going to love this Alfred just as much. You don't cast actors like these in minor supporting roles so I'm assuming that they'll get some juicy storylines in the future, but I'm not sure if we should see the whole birth of Batman as we've seen it before and it's Gordon's show.

Sure the show takes its inspiration from the Batman comics but it is first and foremost a crime drama. the show revolve around Gordon dealing with the corruption within Gotham and most likely a show down with Fish Mooney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith, I was certain I'd never like her in anything. I guess I can admit when I'm wrong). Of course we'll have prominent members of the Batman franchises like the ones I mentioned earlier but I hope we don't get too much of it. Every bad guy of the week that shows up shouldn't be a Batman villain, it would end up too much like Smallville because pretty much every DC character showed up and got ridiculous. I'd like to repeat it's James Gordon's show, not Batman. There is no reason to have all the iconic villains to show up and be thwarted before Bruce even becomes Batman, the show has to stand on it's own two feet and not constantly rely on the source material. The show has to make Gordon his own antagonists and storylines separate to the Batman saga's.

I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot but there's always going to be flaws, one of which is that it felt overcrowded. It's attempting to explore both the comic book characters as well as the crime and corruption in Gotham but it's no easy task. The pilot had a lot to fit in as it was introducing multiple storylines and an array of characters, but it's likely that future episodes will feel less jam-packed as they can take their time. I look forward to watching Gordon's path to becoming the commissioner unfold, and Gotham has now got a loyal follower in me. I got into a little argument on twitter about five minutes into watching the show. Five minutes and I was already arguing about it. That's a good sign. If you have't watched it already please do and you can check out the trailer below!

Live Long and Blog!